“Dawn, Mono Lake” — Mono Lake tufas under a colorful pre-sunrise sky.
In the right conditions, a Mono Lake sunrise can be spectacular. To some extent it is up to the clouds. Clouds produce the most colorful sunrises, of course, but if they are too thick or in the wrong place they can also “turn out the lights.” The ideal, I think, is for it to be clear on the eastern horizon, with scattered clouds closer to the lake. Almost anything goes in the west — some clouds there to catch the light can be good, but clear skies and the earth shadow or even dark and dramatic clouds can work.
“Cotswolds Sky” — Cloud-laced sky above Cotswolds trees and fields.
We didn’t have blue skies every day on our spring walk in the Cotswolds, but when the weather was clear it was often beautiful. We did a weeklong walk there on the last few days of May and first few of June. Yes, there was rain — though nothing approaching a deluge, aside from a few minutes on our last day. But on this morning we had a spectacular sky, blue and streaked with clouds, as we walked through this area of fields and pastures.
“Morning Trees, Shadows” Trees in morning light as mountain shadows recede across a meadow.
I made this photograph on the final morning of my late-August visit to the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite. Since I had until noon to vacate my campsite, I figured I would do some early morning photography before breaking camp. I had a particular sunrise photograph in mind, and after completing that I looked around with no particular agenda and decided to head up to the meadows around Tioga Pass.
“Spring Trees, Flowers, and Meadow, Applecross” — Spring grass, wildflowers, and trees in a meadow at Applecross, Scotland.
This scene on the western Scotland coast not far from Skye was a pleasant surprise. We were on a long drive to the village of Applecross, and our route had taken us through a lot of typical country — rugged coastal areas, broad valleys, high peaks with a dusting of new snow. But out here a lot of the country seemed rocky and rough with few trees. But as we came to a bridge over the River Applecross, suddenly everything was green, the broom flowers were yellow, and there were spring-green trees.
